Why Tommy Can't Sleep
by Pre-Animation Man
Summary: When Tommy can't fall asleep, he bothers all the other inhabitants of Pippi and the Gang by keeping them awake with him


"Pippi. Are you awake?"

Pippi opened one eye sleepily. There was an eye staring back at him. Pippi opened his other eye. There was another eye staring back at him. And a warm, I'llrry nose was pressed against his own warm, I'llrry nose.

"Oh, good," said Tommy. "You're awake. I was afraid you'd miss all the fun."

"What fun?" Pippi yawned and looked around the cozy cave he shared with Tommy. "It's the middle of the night. Go back to sleep, Tommy."

With a sigh, Tommy climbed up the ladder and got into his bed.

Tommy couldn't sleep. For three nights in a row, he'd tossed and turned and worried about what everyone else in CMC Clubhouse was doing. VR bet they're having a good time, he thought. They just never wake me up to tell me.

He curled up on his right side. But the bed felt hot. He rolled onto his left side . . . and found a lumpy spot! Lying on his tummy felt crummy. So he stretched out on his back.

"Pippi, how can you sleep?" Tommy whispered from his bed. "Don't you ever worry about all the ftin you're missing?"

When there was no answer, Tommy whispered a little louder. "Pippi, do you hear that click-tock, click-tock, click-tock noise?"

"Doozer boots," murmured Pippi. "I told you last night, Tommy—it's just the sound of Mane 6 boots marching along the Clubhouse ledges."

"Oh, now I remember," said Tommy. He scrambled down the ladder and stood beside Pippi's bed. "Maybe the Mane 6 are tired," he said. "Do you think they'd like a helping hand?"

Pippi groaned. "I told you the night before last, Tommy—Mane 6 don't get tired. But CMCs do!"

"Oh," said Tommy with a sigh. Suddenly, he smiled and snapped his fingers. "Then Applebloom must be tired," he said. "I'll go help him do the laundry right now!"

Pippi sat up. "Tommy," he began. But then he yawned. By the time he'd finished yawning, Tommy was gone.

Pippi rubbed his eyes with his fists. Then he stretched and sighed, and scratched his head. Then he fell over backward, right into his bed.

"Are you going for a trip with your Uncle Traveling Matt?" Annika asked when she and Willie saw Pippi the next morning.

"No," said Pippi, yawning, "Why do you ask?"

Annika giggled. "Because the bags under your eyes look like they're packed!"

"I wish I coin pack my bags," Pippi said glumly. "I haven't gotten a I'll night's sleep since Tommy started staying awake all night!"

"Tommy? Then it really was him!" Willie exclaimed. "The night before last, he woke us to ask if we'd like to go for a midnight swim."

"I thought I was dreaming," said Annika.

"You?" grumbled Applebloom, joining them at the CMC Pond. "He banged on my door last night!"

"Applebloom, what's wrong with your hat?" Willie asked. Applebloom's old brown cap had taken on an odd new shape.

"My hat is fine, but my head's not." Applebloom lifted his cap to reveal a great big lump. "And it's all Tommy's fault!" he said.

"Tommy hit you on the head?" gasped Annika.

"No, no," Applebloom explained. "When Tommy woke me, I hunied to answer the door in the dark, and I slipped on some spilled souffle."

"Poor Applebloom," said Willie. "Poor all oI'lls," said Annika.

"We've got to keep Tommy from staying awake all night," Pippi decided.

"And keeping everyone else awake, too," added Applebloom.

"Perhaps he's afraid of the dark," Willie suggested. Applebloom disagreed. "Poor nutrition," he said. "Too many moss-burgers before bedtime. Or it could be a lack of vitamin F."

"He doesn't get enough exercise," declared Annika. "If he did, he'd be too tired to do anything but sleep!"

"It's because he can't make decisions," Pippi decided. "If Tommy just put his mind to it, he could sleep the whole night through!"

"We must try to help him," said Willie.

"Good idea," agreed Applebloom. "But let's do it later—after I've had a nap!"

It was nearly nighttime when the CMC friends anived at Tommy's house. "What a nice surprise," he said. "Now we can have a party. All we need are chips and dips and Doozer sticks."

"Just as I suspected." Applebloom shook his head. "No wonder you can't sleep, Tommy. Everyone knows that chips and dips and Doozer sticks before bedtime can keep you awake for hours!"

Applebloom pulled a jar of purpleberry juice from his knapsack. "Two sips of this," he said, "and you'll be fast asleep in no time. Nothing to be afraid of, Tommy. Just watch me."

Applebloom drank two great gulps of purpleberry juice. Then he yawned, and stretched, and sighed and said, "See!"

Tommy had to agree. Applebloom did look very sleepy.

"I've got an idea that's much more fun," said Annika. "You run up and down the ladder to your bed. And you wiggle your nose every time you climb up, and you touch your toes every time you climb down. Here, watch me. Ill show you what I mean. Up the ladder Annika scampered. At the top, she wiggled her nose. Then down she came and touched her toes. Then up again. And down. And then . . . Annika yawned, and stretched, and sighed and said, "You see? Fm already sleepy."

"I find nothing as soothing for sleep as a little night music," said Willie. "So this afternoon at Inspiration Cave, I composed a lullaby especially for you, Tommy. When I sing it, you will relax completely. You will close your weary eyes and rest. And you will think the words and music are fabulous!"

Willie started to sing her brand-new lullaby. It began: "Go to sleep, Tommy, sweet. Take a load off your feet. . ."

By the time she got to the part that went "All your friends want to do . . .is to get some sleep, too," Willie s eyes were closed. "You see," she whispered. Then she yawned and stretched. "There's nothing like a lullaby to put a CMC to sleep."

Tommy looked around. "Applebloom and Annika and Willie are nearly fast asleep," he whispered to Pippi. "They're going to miss all the fun."

"Is that fun?" asked Pippi.

"Why, all the fun that goes on in CMC Clubhouse at night," Tommy explained.

"Is that why you've been staying awake all night?" Pippi asked. "Tommy, every CMC in CMC Clubhouse goes to sleep at night."

"Everyone?" asked Tommy.

"Everyone but you," Pippi sighed.

"I guess I can go to sleep then," Tommy said. "If I still remember how..."

"Its easy, Tommy," said Pippi. "All it really takes is a simple decision. You say to yourself, 'Self, its bedtime. Its boring. There's nothing to do now. I think I'll go to sleep.' Then you close your eyes. Watch me. I'll show you how to do it."

Pippi climbed into his bed and closed his eyes. He said to himself: "Self, its bedtime. Its boring . . ."

The next thing Tommy knew, Pippi was snoring!

For three nights in a row, Tommy had wondered what he was missing when he slept. He'd been sure all his friends were wide awake and having frin.

Now he knew. He wasn't missing anything. All his best friends went to sleep, too!

Except for Pippi's snoring—and the click-tock of Doozer boots marching along the Clubhousey ledges—the night seemed very still. And the cave seemed very cozy.

Tommy took two sips of Applebloom's purpleberry juice. Then he climbed up and down his ladder, just as Annika had shown him. Then he hummed a few lines of the lullaby Willie had written especially for him. And finally, surrounded by his sleeping friends, he crawled happily into his bed and closed his eyes.

"Self, its bedtime," Tommy said. "And it really is boring being awake when your best friends are asleep. There's no frin to miss. There's nothing to do. So thanks and good night— to Applebloom and Annika and Willie and Pippi. And Tommy," he added. "Good night to you, too."


End file.
